Brevard election ballot recounts to begin for statewide, Melbourne Beach races

Brevard County's ballot recounts will kick off Tuesday morning for Florida's controversy-marred U.S. Senate, governor and agriculture commissioner races.

The machine recounts will begin at 9 a.m. at the Supervisor of Elections office in Building C of the Government Center in Viera. The recounts may extend until Thursday, Supervisor of Elections Lori Scott said.

"I have three high-speed counters, and those are the machines that we use to tabulate mail ballots. We also use those in recounts," Scott said.

"This time, every ballot cast in Brevard County will be going back through the machines because it is a statewide recount," she said.

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What's more, aside from the headline-grabbing statewide races, a razor-thin margin of six votes in a Melbourne Beach Town Commissioner race has also triggered a machine recount.

Melbourne Beach voters chose from a field of four candidates to serve a three-year term, with the top two vote-getters winning election. Sherri Quarrie led the pack with 849 votes (28.83 percent).

However, in the race for second place, Steve Walters took 808 votes (27.44 percent) and Joyce Barton got 802 votes (27.23 percent) — a difference of six votes.

If the machine recount also results in a Melbourne Beach margin of 0.25 percent or less, a manual recount will take place.

The Brevard County Canvassing Board will oversee the recounts. The board consists of Scott, Brevard County Commission Chairwoman Rita Pritchett and Brevard County Judge Kenneth Friedland, who chairs the panel.

Scott said the ballot-counting machines will first run a "logic and accuracy test" Tuesday morning before the recount begins. Mail ballots will be recounted first, followed by early voting ballots and Election Day ballots.

"We will be methodical through that process. Those ballots are sealed in bags with security seals that are recorded," Scott said.

Friday, the Canvassing Board accepted 129 provisional ballots and rejected 157 others after roughly four hours of review.

The meeting drew heavier scrutiny than past years, given Florida's ongoing election controversies. Attendees included Brevard Republican Executive Committee Chairman Rick Lacey,  Brevard Democratic Executive Committee Chairwoman Stacey Patel, and Adam Bird, a Melbourne attorney representing the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

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Neale is the South Brevard watchdog reporter at FLORIDA TODAY.

Contact Neale at 321-242-3638

or rneale@floridatoday.com.

Twitter: @RickNeale1

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